LUNENBURG - Pamela C. Dussault-Runtagh began her career as a spiritual counselor and healer, sometimes called a medium, in 2004 after almost two decades as a travel consultant. The career change was precipitated by a 2003 spiritual experience when a “blue angel” came to her. The experience changed her life.

She has since honed her ability to walk between the spiritual and physical worlds. In doing so, she said she gains information to help others with their spiritual journeys and to heal. People come to her for guidance and to communicate with loved ones who have passed, she said.

She is also a writer, massage therapist, master Reiki healer and shamanic practitioner, and trains others in using their abilities to communicate with the spiritual world.

Tell me about your first spiritual experience.

“I was trying to break free of a bad marriage in 2003. We were separated, and in the middle of the night, I was woken up when I heard very loudly, ‘Watch out.’ I sat up and looked around the dark room. My children were in their rooms. I thought that I must have just dreamt it. As I went to lay my head back down on the pillow, I heard it again and I was wide awake. I saw a blue light in the corner of my room and I immediately sensed and felt strongly it was an angel. I picked up my phone and was getting ready to dial 911, but I thought, ‘Wait. They’ll think you’re crazy.’ Then, I heard something going on downstairs. I called 911 and they came and it was my estranged husband trying to break in. He was not in a stable condition at the time, but I don’t think he was intending to hurt me. I felt like we had been saved, by this angel. After that, I was surrounded by angels. I could see them. They were talking to me. I was talking to them. From that moment, it became about this total communication opening.”

Did it surprise you to see the angel?

“The first blue angel was surprising. It changed me completely. It was such an experience, I had to find out more. I started communicating with them and realized I could help other people through this communication. I started getting together with the spiritual community and started doing readings with these angels for other people. Sometimes they were blue angels, but not always. Others were other colors or I’d just hear or see a flash of white light and know they were around and making their presence known. I realized there were millions of angels. Everybody had them. Everybody had guardian angels. And, I could talk to them and help people.”

When did you first realize you could help others with your ability?

“I would sit down with a person and they might tell me something that was concerning them and I would hear, or I would see, or I would even feel, the angel answering their questions or giving them insight into their problems. As I started giving these readings, I realized they were more than angels. They were people who had passed who might have been close to the person, who I also could hear, see and feel. They started coming through to me."

Why do you think you were given this ability?

“I believe I was given this gift to help people just like I was helped by the spiritual world - kind of like I am a messenger and healer for them on earth. I also believe I've always had this gift, but I just didn't know I could use it in the way I do, and that first encounter with an angel got me started.”

Do you think there are others who have the ability to communicate with the spiritual world who do not realize it?

“I know others have the ability to communicate with the spiritual world. They just may need some guidance and training in how to do it. I actually teach this in my online classes.”

How do you help someone having trouble dealing with the loss of a loved one?

“Actually, the way I help others dealing with the loss of a loved one is by feeling their pain. I'm highly sensitive and empathetic so I can feel others' emotions, and by sharing in their pain, it somehow helps them feel better. I also provide messages from their loved one who has passed so they can feel their presence, which comforts them a great deal. It's helpful for them to know their loved one is safe, healthy and free where they are and also that they are always close by even if they can't see them.”

Is there a particular story someone shared with you that was somewhat difficult or emotional for you?

“Oh, yes. I was giving a reading for a woman with her 7-year-old son. I didn't know her or her loved one that was coming through - turns out it was her nephew who was coming through very strong. Then he kept showing me how he was sitting in a car in front of a steering wheel, but not going anywhere. It didn't make any sense to me so I asked them about it. She began to cry and told me her nephew coming through was Sean Collier, the young MIT officer who was killed in the Boston Marathon bombing. I then understood because that was where he was when he was killed."

Tell me about the healing method you developed.

“Once I got a taste for wanting to help heal, I began to study energy medicine and became a Reiki master teacher. While I liked Reiki, it didn’t seem enough for me. I started studying shamanism, an indigenous form of healing art, that transforms energy to bring about healing. From there I also discovered I had some of my own gifts that nobody had taught me. I formulated my own method of energy healing that combined Reiki and shamanism and a lot of my own gifts. It is called the REAP healing method.”